To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Heather Ruiz, Human Resources Director
Prepared By: Ashley Titus, Management Analyst II
TITLE:
Title
Unrepresented Executive Police Chief Safety Group GC 20516 Cost Share
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution approving the Unrepresented Executive Police Chief Safety Group GC 20516 CalPERS cost share.
Body
DISCUSSION:
On October 21, 2025, the City Council approved changes to the Police Chief’s compensation and benefits. This included aligning the Police Chief’s CalPERS retirement cost share with the Police Management Unit (PMU). This recommendation was a reduction in the Police Chief’s required CalPERS cost share. Without this adjustment, any internal candidates promoted to Chief would see an increase in their pension cost share, resulting in a decrease in take-home pay. Additionally, the prior Police Chiefs have all been in the classic 3% @ 50 retirement formula, whereas, current and likely future Police Chiefs will be at the Tier 2 3% @ 55 or the Public Employee Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) 2.7% @ 57 formulas. Therefore, the cost share needs to be adjusted to reflect this change.
CalPERS requires a contract amendment to enact this change; therefore, this is the first step in that contract amendment process, in order to comply with the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL). The attached Resolution formally establishes the Police Chief’s updated pension cost share and includes acknowledgement for the affected employee(s).
The council will need to take additional steps at a future meeting to finalize the CalPERS contract amendment. These items are administrative, and to comply with the PERL, the substance of this change was already approved by Council in the October 21st meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Adjusting the Police Chief Group’s cost share to align with the Police Management Unit results in a lower employee contribution rate. As a result, the City’s share of the pension contribution will increase slightly.
The current cost share listed is 5.5%. It will be reduced to 3.5% effective January 1, 2026 resulting in a cost of $2,500 for Fiscal Year 2025/26. Additional changes in future years will be required to be brought to Council for subsequent contract amendments and will be budgeted accordingly in future Fiscal Years.
CEQA:
The Human Resource Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Employee Agreement to Cost Sharing of CalPERS Member Contributions
NOTIFICATION:
None.